SACHIKA Brooklyn Fashion Week/2009 from cyril mahe on Vimeo.
We hadn't slept much the night before..Sometimes the excitement is so great my mind keeps running non-stop, images, visions and anticipation, I just couldn't sleep. The entire night, we were both sitting here at the studio still thinking about ways to improve the show: accessories, hats, gloves, jewelries, hoisery... To me, it can never be good enough! LOL... I found the music for the runway the same night...Yes, the night before, the music wasn't even ready yet. Talking about last minute!! Sometimes I feel like the last minute rush forces me to make better decisions in a quick manner. At 3am, I finally chose something and sent it to our executive producer, Niro, for him to edit it and add it to the intro that we had recorded with my voice: "You are now entering the world of SAAAACHIKAAAA. Sachika is a movement for the modern woman: she's fierce, she's independent and she can do whatever she wants." I love that intro, I wanted to convey the spirit of our label, a quote that people would remember our brand for...
So we had about 2-3 hours of sleep, just enough to recharge our batteries and to get some bags under our eyes! LOL!! Call time for all staff was 3pm in Brooklyn. We arrived "unfashionably" late at 5pm. WOW talking about lateness, we were pretty embarrassed as most our models and all our staff were already there. It's just that for some reason everything was delayed! Our hairstylists had been calling us several times saying that we needed to get there asap. I thought to myself ok, we need to be there asap because we are the designers and we need to keep an eye on what's going on with our models and sponsors... When I got there, I was astonished to see our hairstylists sitting down with their jackets on, instead of working on the models. I promptly asked them what was happening when "Dan" stood up and introduced himself as the hair/makeup coordinator. He informed us that we were not allowed to bring our own makeup and hair team and that most our models had already their hair and makeup done. How could that be even possible? This was NOT part of the plan!!! I guess there was a serious miscommunication somewhat along the process. I schemed through the prep room and didn't see any of our models so I ran outside to look for them. This is when I almost cried. One of my prettiest model was unrecognizable! Here hair was up in a bun with a ton of gel and her makeup was so different from the one we had requested.. Wow...I was seriously devastated. Following her, I saw 6 other of our models, all with the same look. My confidence level immediately dropped. I was now super stressed and scared! This is why our hairstylists wanted us to get here asap, THE WRONG HAIR AND MAKEUP WAS BEING DONE on our models!!Oh nooooooooooooooo!!!! It just didn't match our clothing!!! This is a huge problem when you're a designer and you create a " look". This was NOT THE LOOK we had envisioned. And our poor sponsors, they worked so hard to achieve what we wanted!!
We had to find a solution and at that point at 5pm, two hours before the doors open, either we keep all the models hair "as is" this was the look they were supposed to have for the first Designers ( we were scheduled last) or either we change the look of the remaining ones that haven't had their hair and makeup done to smooth it out. We chose option 2. We were so afraid of "failing" and not being able to accomplish our goal and vision that from that moment on, nothing else mattered. We totally switched our gear to full speed. We only had 2 hours to fix all the problems. I took a deep breath, tried to focus and work with what we had. INTELLIGENCE: capacity to adapt. I tried to be calm and collected and not to yell at the organizers and hairstylists and makeup artists. BRRREAAATTTHHHHHHEEEEEE. The next hours were quite intense: no food, no rest, no phone. NOTHING. One thing: FOCUS. We literally received our step and repeat, fashion show brochures and gift certificates 20 min before our show!!! My sister was throwing on peacock feathers on the model's hair and she added purses, shoes, stockings right before the show started! We would glance at each model from head to toe toe just before they walk the runway to make sure each outfit made sense...TALKING ABOUT STRESS!!!
Right before the first beat dropped, my heart just pounded and when our first model struck the runway all the way to the end of the catwalk with all the photographers, the music pumping the entire tent, an overwhelming feeling of joy and satisfaction took over. I was even dancing backstage!!! It was so excited to see all our dresses displayed on the catwalk on the models! I peaked at the audience in between each model and there were applauds, whistles and lots of smiles in the audience...Ahhh.... What A RELIEF!! IT WAS SOOOOOOO WORTH IT!! We've been having amazing reviews. Makes me think God (Buddha) is on our side...THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT...
Na Mo Quang The Am Bo Thac.
Na Mo A Di Da Phat
Na Mo Bong Chu Thit Ca Mo Ni Phat.
VIVA SACHIKA
www.SACHIKA.com
what a story!
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